Posts Tagged ‘general health’

New Seasons Company had issued a voluntary recall of their almond butter for its alleged peanut contamination. Peanuts were not listed as one of the ingredients in the jars. But one New Seasons staff discovered the mislabeled jars after conducting its routine stock rotation check.

New Season’s Recall of their Peanut-Contaminated Almond Butter

Fortunately, the company has yet to receive any complaints or reports of illness from the said jars. But the company took the initiative to recall jars with best-by dates ranging from 06/16/2017, 08/15/2017, and 08/30/2017. So far, 19 locations across Oregon, southern Washington State and northern California had distributed the jar. Moreover, the only affected product was the almond butter with UPC Code 4060010401. No other nut butters were affected and contaminated by the recall.

Those people bearing nut allergy have risks to a serious or life-threatening allergic reactions when they consume nut products. So New Seasons is urging its customers who have peanut allergies to return the almond butter for a full refund. Customers need not bring their receipts upon return. For any questions or inquiries about the recalled product, you may reach them at talktous@newseasonsmarket.com

The Department of Public Health and Safety issued a recall on Adams Farm Slaughterhouse LLC’s beef, veal, and bison products after the hospitalization of two Connecticut residents for E.Coli infection.

Beef Sold In Connecticut Recalled for E.Coli Infection

In a statement released by DPH Spokeswoman Maura Downes, she said that the beef recalled originated in Adam’s Slaughterhouse, but they distributed their products to Connecticut farms and farmer’s market.

“This facility slaughters, processes, and packs beef products for some small producers here in Connecticut,” Downes said. “Some of these producers only sell their ground beef products directly at the farm or farmers’ markets throughout the state.”

The DPH conducted an investigation after the multi-state outbreak of E.Coli cases. The investigation revealed that the beef sickened two Connecticut residents. Fortunately, both residents have recovered from the infection.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture categorized the recall as Class I since it imposes high health risk. Some of E.Coli’s deadly symptoms include dehydration, bloody diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. While most of the patients diagnosed were able to recover, a few percentage suffers from kidney failure, pallor, and decreased urine output. They advised anyone who suffers from these symptoms to seek medical care immediately.

The DPH also encouraged customers who still have left-overs to check the agriculture packaging code. Adam’s Slaughterhouse Agriculture code number is #5497. The recall includes products bearing the package code above.

The Fast Metabolism Diet Community’s Friendly Reminder:

The community is urging everyone (especially around the Connecticut state) to call the local farmer and have the products returned or ask for a refund. Moreover, be careful with the products you purchased as cases of E.Coli is predominant recently.

If you’re fond of drinking “healthy strawberry smoothies” displayed in coffee shops, then beware and take heed! The CDC recently announced an outbreak of Hepatitis A that affects 55 people in 6 US states.

CDC Reports Cases of Hepatitis A After Consumption of Tropical Strawberry Smoothies

The local health authorities confirmed reports of 44 cases of Hepatitis infections in Virginia, Maryland with 4, 1 in North Carolina, 1 in Oregon and Wisconsin. 40 out of the 55 cases originated from a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Virginia.

The 44 Virginia residents were hospitalized and infected with Hepatitis A after consuming the strawberry smoothie. The strawberries used in making the smoothie originated from Egypt, and suspected to be the carriers of the said virus. The Tropical Smoothies Cafe recalled all of its strawberry smoothies after the incident.

Since the symptoms of hepatitis A don’t show up quickly unlike food poisoning, the health authorities are encouraging everyone to watch for its impending symptoms. The symptoms cover jaundice, fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, light-colored stools and among others.

The affected Tropical Smoothie Cafe released a statement about the issue:

“The Virginia Department of Healthy notified us about several foodborne illnesses in the state linked to frozen strawberries sourced from Egypt. Our cafes and their food handling practices have not been implicated in any way – the health department believes this is a single product issue (strawberries) sourced from Egypt. Egyptian strawberries represent a fraction of our overall strawberries purchased and were predominantly distributed to stores in the Virginia market.

Today, our strawberries are primarily sourced from Mexico and California. However, in an abundance of caution, we voluntarily pulled all strawberries sourced from Egypt from every cafe in our system, not only the Virginia cafes. Our primary concern is for the safety and well-being of our guests and crew members and we will continue to cooperate with the health authorities.”

The Fast Metabolism Diet Community’s Opinion

The community still recommends everyone to make their own smoothies rather than store-bought smoothies. We don’t know for sure how they handled the preparation of smoothies. We’re at risks of acquiring illness (like this).

The first case of Zika Virus in America was recorded in Wynwood, a neighborhood in Miami. Although the case outbreak seemed to have subsided, the CDC public health officials advised pregnant women not to travel there.

Existence of Zika Virus Around Miami Beach Florida

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted a test on mosquitoes from 1.5 square-mile around Miami Beach to confirm the existence of the virus around the area. Much to our dismay, the local authorities announced last Thursday the confirmation of the existence of the virus.

The Zika virus primarily affects the women, especially the pregnant ones. Its symptoms range from rashes, joint pain, and severe brain damages to fetuses. Around 16 babies out of 1500 infected pregnant women was born with birth defects.

As of now, the Zika virus is only circulating around Florida. The authorities are hopeful that the virus won’t spread explosively in the United States as compared to Latin America and the Caribbean. This is because Americans live in a less crowded place and usually have window screens and air conditioning, making it difficult for the mosquitoes to spread the virus.

“The good news is the weekly number of new cases isn’t changing much,” Dr. Weaver said. “If we were seeing at first five cases a week, then 10, 20 and then 100, we’d be very concerned.”

Nevertheless, the local authorities warned the public, especially the pregnant women, to minimize going out in public places to avoid acquiring the virus. Governor Rick Scott also assured that funds are available if CDC would conduct an aerial spraying. The CDC recommended spraying Miami Beach using helicopters.

But as to when it would happen, it still remains unclear. The Miami Beach City Commissioner Michael Grieco said that it’s not practical considering the geography of the area. There are high buildings everywhere. Some residents are also opposed to spraying, he added.

FMD Community’s Opinion and Call Out:

The community hopes that the Zika Virus will stop spreading around the country. We are calling out to all fast metabolism dieters– especially the pregnant women, to minimize going to public areas to prevent chances of acquiring an infection. Let us all be vigilant and keep yourself and your little bundle of joy healthy at all times.

Emma Watson has captivated our hearts with her glamor and charm ever since her younger years and up to present. Sometimes we wonder if her notable role as Hermione Granger was true because she casts a spell on us. We can’t help but notice and stare at her enchanting beauty. What could be the secret behind her flawless skin and youthful glow?

Learn Emma Watson’s Secret Diet to live a healthy, glowing life.

1. Emma Watson Loves Outdoor Activities

Emma loves outdoor activities and she considered it as her form of exercise. She loves hiking on hills, walking, running, and playing hockey. Basically, she loves doing sports that can make her sweat.

She’s also undergoing weight-lifting that helps her to have stronger bones with a toned feminine body. As you may know, weight-lifting makes your muscle lean and boost your metabolism to lose more weight.

3. With Regards to Cheat Days . . .

Emma does also have her fair share of cheat days. She loves indulging in chocolates, pasta, bagels, etc. She also loves baking and she indulges herself with her delicious bakes too!

4. Emma Avoids Stress for her Skin Care

Emma knows that stress not only ruins your body but your beauty too. So as much as possible, she avoids any kind of stress and just focuses on the things that can make her happy. She wears sunscreen and removes her makeup every time she goes to bed. She also loves to pamper herself with a long bath.

Emma only uses branded makeup and nail paints like Essie, Lancôme, Giorgio Armani and Kiehl’s. She also loves to wear red lip shades and always keep a lipstick and lip balm on her purse.

Together with a healthy diet, exercise, and right skin care, Emma Watson was able to maintain her natural glow and vigor. Use Emma’s story as an inspiration to embark your journey towards a healthy lifestyle too!

The fast-food giant, McDonalds, recently released a promotional package that comes along with purchasing a Happy Meal. They come-up with having “Step It” fitness tracker. Kids can wear this tracker around their wrist as a strapped watch.

Supposedly, the device’s primary purpose is to help your kids to get moving and promote physical activity. The device will count steps or blink as the bearer moves around.

But instead of getting positive health and fitness reviews from moms and children, they are now facing a controversial issue pertaining to public health and safety. They received 70 reports of flesh-burning, blisters, and skin irritations from vigilant moms.

“We have taken this swift and voluntary step after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated with wearing the band,” Terri Hickey.

The spokeswoman also said that they are aggressively investigating the issue. They claimed that the wristband fitness trackers complied the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. Furthermore, they are urging the parents to take the wristband off of their children and have it returned to the nearest local store. They will have it replaced either with a new toy or apple slices.

The Community’s Opinion About the McDonald Issue

While the reason for the sudden blister burn issues from the fitness trackers was still unknown, but we do know one thing is for sure. The McDonald’s promotion strategy totally failed. Even long before they introduced the product, some health and fitness enthusiast were already skeptical about the idea.

“It’s a common tactic used by food manufacturers. They promote their products alongside… healthy lifestyles,” Jennifer Emond, a pediatrics professor at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, told CNN

The community also finds it ironic that they are promoting physical fitness activity, considering they sell all these unhealthy processed foods that contribute to our weight issues. We believe that this is just their diversionary tactic to encourage parents of buying low nutritional foods. Bear in mind that nothing beats a healthy food made from tender love, and care. Lastly, we encourage parents to take the time to personally prepare your kid’s meals to ensure their safety and wellness.

Last time, we shared about the positive health and fitness reviews of Pokemon GO towards its users just a couple of weeks after it was first released. More and more people are now inclined to walking and exercising with this app compared to the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign in the last 60 years. It’s no doubt that the Pokemon Go craze has now become our new work out buddy!

But did you know that walking is not the only health benefits you can get from this game app? Here are 4 ways on how Pokemon Go can improve your health and well being.

1. Brisk Walk around Terrains and Slopes

Walking is the foundation how Pokemon Go works. You need to get out of your house, walk around the neighborhood or any place to look for pokemons, catch them or hatch an egg. You are required as a gamer to go to Pokestops and Pokegyms to battle with other players and win.

But to make your walking session all the more challenging and adventurous, opt for a brisk walk. Brisk walking can help your abdomen, hips, and legs to work hard to maintain your balance against gravity. If you opt to train on steep slopes, you’ll be pushing more effort on your legs, joints, and muscles to work harder, losing more fat in the process!

2. It Can Improve your Mental Health

Walking while playing Pokemon Go not only improves your physical aspect but your mental health as well. People with depression forces them to get out of the bed and chill using the app. It gave them a sense of purpose and lifted their moods. It can also help you clear your mind, meditate on the important things happening in your life and connect with nature again.

3. You Get Fresh Air and Sunlight

Gone are the moments where you dreaded waking up early to exercise. Now, most people anticipated waking up in the morning and going outside to fulfill their quest to catch all those Pokemon! Not only that, you get the natural Vitamin D from the sun’s light rays that help absorb calcium and promote bone growth. Breathing the fresh air and enjoying the morning breeze will help boost your mood and respiratory health.

4. You Get to Improve Your Social Skills

Once we’ve heard the term video game, we associate it with shut in video gamers. Those people who’re in front of their computers all time doing nothing but play. But now, the video game industry’s image is now turning into a positive one because of this app. Pokemon promotes your social and interpersonal skills by interacting with different Pokemon trainers as you go on Pokegyms. It also helps promote building long-lasting friendships.

If you haven’t already, you can download Pokemon Go on App Store. Bye for now, gonna catch Pokemon myself.

We have heard this famous line often -“The Early Bird Catches the Worm“. Ever since our tender years, this line has been imprinted in our minds. Waking up early is the way to start the day right. They say the earlier you wake up, the more productive you can be as you get through the day.

But for some of our fast metabolism dieters, waking up early can be a challenge. How do we step up from this difficulty? How can we encourage ourselves to rise up earlier when we are so tempted to extend our shut eye?

We recommend these 6 tips to help give extra boost to waking up early. Try applying them in your routine and see which one works for you best.

1. Place Your Phone or Alarm Clock Away From Your Bed

Do you ever wonder why even though you’ve set three alarms already, you still find yourself sleeping more? The culprit behind it is the location of our alarm clock. Most of us place our alarm clocks (or smartphones nowadays) on our bed. Making it incredibly easy for us to grab it and hit “snooze”.

And since we’re still lying in the four corners of our comfortable bed, it is easy to doze off again. These recurring actions resulted to us getting late at work and ruining our schedule for the rest of the day. How do we fix this detrimental habit?

The solution to that is by simply putting your alarm clock away from your bed! You can put your alarm clock on your study table, cabinet, or near the door. The farther it is, the better. The goal is to force you to exert more effort in standing up and getting away from your bed. This movement will help the transition from being asleep to being awake immediately.

2. Have Something to Look Forward To

Before you go to sleep the night before, list down all your goals for the next day. Whether you want to go out for a run, read a new novel, or cook a healthy meal for the family, whatever that is, list it down.

These goals will inspire you to wake up early and keep moving! Because, if you don’t have any goals set for the day, sleeping (or doing nothing) will always be a better option for you.

3. Set a Bedtime Alarm

Did you know that you can also use your alarm clock as a bedtime alarm? Yes, you read it right! This is really helpful especially if you have trouble sleeping. Set the time when you need to sleep. The moment it alarms, it will remind you to sleep now and halt every activity you’re doing at the moment.

4. Establish a Relaxing Nighttime Routine

We recommend to only do light things before your bedtime. It is important to relax your brain and lull it to sleep. You can listen to a mellow music or meditate. Not soon after you’ll find yourself sleepy. Conditioning yourself to sleep before your bedtime will help you establish a consistent sleeping pattern.

5. Have an Accountability Buddy

Tell your best friend or your family about your plans of waking up early and let them join your quest. You can invite them to take a morning run with you. The words you left to them will hold you accountable for it. Surely, you wouldn’t want to break your promises to them, right?

6. Cut Your Screen time Before Going to Bed

The blue light emitted from electronic devices prevents your brain from releasing melatonin, a hormone responsible for making you sleep. It is highly suggested to cut off your browsing time 30 minutes before bedtime to relax your brain after a tiresome day. When you’re relaxed, your brain will be able to release the hormones you needed to have profound and relaxing sleep.

Try these tips tonight, and if they work for you, then make these things a habit. Waking up early will do wonders in your waking life.

One of the most rewarding and fulfilling lessons we learned while undergoing the fast metabolism diet is food awareness, that is to say, which ones are beneficial and which lot could sabotage our metabolism. However, do you know that you can make your every meal healthier than it already is?

Here are our top 5 tips on how to make heartier and healthier meals while you’re on fast metabolism diet.

1. Know When To Choose Organic Food

Although we recommend to our dieters to patronize organic food whenever possible, we understand that it is a bit expensive. For our dieters who cannot afford to go all-organic yet, we recommend you start first with fruits and veggies, and animal protein.

These two types of food group are most vulnerable to pesticides, growth hormones, and chemicals, and we eat consume them on a daily basis. This increases our risks of acquiring mortal diseases such as Diabetes, High Blood, Stroke, and Heart disease. The following are the list of food we recommend for you to switch to organic first:

Turkey, Beef, Chicken, Pork

Strawberries, Raspberries, and Cherries

Apples and Pears

Tomatoes

Spinach and Salad Greens

Sweet Potatoes

Celery

Peppers

Cucumbers

2. Combine Powerful Food with Better Nutrient Absorption

Fortunately, we’ve already got this tip half-covered. We strategically designed your meal map, as well the foods you eat to help your body get the optimum nutrition it needs. But if you want to boost your nutrient absorption further, you can combine these powerful, nutrition-house foods into your meal recipes.

Tomatoes and Olive Oil – We all know that the Lycopene found on tomatoes have powerful cancer-fighting antioxidant properties but this nutrient is best absorbed when combined with a healthy fat such as olive oil. It is also revealed that lycopene absorbs more efficiently when you processed it into natural tomato puree and paste.

Eggs and Avocado – These two types of food are match-made in heaven. The healthy fats found in avocado helps the absorption of fat-soluble vitamin D found in eggs.

3. Eat Slowly and Chew

We may sound like a broken playlist by now, but we’ll never get tired of reminding you of this simple and gentle advice: Chew your foods well and eat slowly. Breaking your foods into smaller chunks will ease your digestion. It can also help your gut to absorb the energy and nutrients from digesting foods.

Aside from that, your brain normally takes 20 minutes before it sends a signal that you’re full. So take time and relish in the foods you’re eating to avoid overeating.

4. Know when to soak, crush, or sprout your ingredients.

Our nutrient intake is not only determined by the food we eat but also with the way it is cooked. In order to get the optimum nutrition you need, here is a guide on when to apply the necessary cooking method for your meals.

Soak – Soaking legumes and beans overnight will help improve the nutritional value of your meals. Since legumes and beans have water-soluble nutrients after soaking, it will help your body to absorb minerals such as iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium easier.

Sprout – This method is good for pulse veggies such as alfalfa, mung bean. and chickpeas since they require more effort to soak. Sprouting can also increase the availability of nutrients stored in these veggies. Sprouting is best recommended if you’re making salads since it gives an extra nutrient boost.

5. Know when To Eat Raw/Cooked/Frozen Foods.

Whether you prefer to eat raw or cooked foods, we cannot deny that foods are nutritional powerhouses. But do you know when is the best time to eat them?

If the foods are rich either in Vitamin B1, B5, Folate, and Vitamin C, we recommend to eat them as raw. It’s because these veggies are sensitive to heat. When heated, their nutritional value decreases, so it’s best to eat them in their natural, uncooked state.

If the foods are rich in beta-carotene, (such as squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes) lycopene (tomatoes), we recommend to eat them best when cooked.

For fruits, you can eat them either as fresh or frozen. But research found that frozen fruits and veggies actually have richer nutrient compounds like vitamin C, antioxidants such as lutein and beta-carotene than their fresh alternatives. Frozen carrots and blueberries are the living proof of that.

Menopause is a natural physical transformation that women deals with, it is when ovaries stop producing egg cells. This process causes our body to undergo a hormonal change that may leave us to face its horrible effects and symptoms.

Menopausal stage usually starts by the age of 40, it varies in different cases. And there is a common question that menopausal women have. How do we make our menopausal stage more bearable? Well, the ideal solution to that would be through a healthy diet! If our aim is to maintain a healthy body, then it is just imperative to get a nourishing meal plan. Here’s a quick guideline for your diet. There are essentially 6 nutrients that you should include in your diet for a gentle menopausal period.

1. Calcium

The most common misconception in the health and fitness world is that Calcium is mostly found in dairy products. Most of the fast metabolism dieters before were hesitant to start because dairy products are not allowed in this diet. They were afraid they couldn’t meet their Calcium nutrient requirement.

It is true that there are many Calcium-rich foods that you can consume that are allowed in this diet. You can opt to eat more Salmon, Halibut, Oranges, Kale, Sesame seeds, arugula, and broccoli since they are rich not only in calcium but also in healthy fat and protein. These foods can help you meet your daily Calcium requirement.

Note: Remember that the recommended amount of Calcium you needed to have in your daily intake is at least 1,200 milligrams. This is due to the fact that one of the disadvantages of menopause is decreased bone health. Thus, increasing your risks on osteoporosis. It is advised to eat Calcium-rich foods to prevent osteoporosis.

2. Iron

Although your body’s need for Iron decreases after menopause, your body still need Iron in order to maintain the circulation of your body through oxygen-carrying red blood cells. You can increase your Iron intake by eating meat, oysters, eggs, nuts, and lentils.

3. Fruits

Eating fruits will help you decrease the tiredness you feel during menopause, so be sure to eat one. Fruits contain many vitamins like A, B1, B2, B6, C, E, etc that are important in maintaining your health and well-being. You can check the allowed fruits to eat per phase here.

4. Vegetables

The most important food you need to incorporate in your healthy diet is veggies. Vegetables have no cholesterol, are low in fat and calorie, more importantly, they contain rich vitamins like Potassium, Folate, Dietary fiber. Vegetables can help achieve the healthy body you wanted, so we recommend you eat as many as possible (no limits!), just as long as you make sure that they are allowed in your current phase.

5. Fiber

If you’re already eating fruits (as per tip #3), then you should be fine with this. Fibers are primarily found from fruits. Fiber-rich foods help you lower your cholesterol, stress levels, boost your energy levels and make you feel fuller and satisfied.

6. Water

Last but definitely not the least, always maintain your water daily intake, especially if you’re undergoing through menopause. It will reduce the dryness you’re experiencing on your skin and private areas. The dryness is usually caused by the decreased level of estrogen hormone in your body. It can also help reduce the bloating that is caused by low estrogen levels as well.

We all know that most women dreaded facing their menopause because of the horrendous symptoms we got to experience. We’d have enough of that dealing with our menstrual cramps and now this! But with proper diet and exercise, we can diminish its effects and make it more bearable.